Bridge St. Horses walking free

The Horse Fair in Bridge Street looking east. At one time, it was one of the larger horse fairs in the country. Boys with barrows collected the horse dung for sale. The Wheatsheaf became the post office in 1972 and a private house in 2010 when the post office moved to the middle room of the Town Hall. The three semi-circular windows in the first floor of was the HSBC bank (in 2014) and Patrick Strainge butchers have been altered at some point to look like their neighbouring upstairs windows.

Running a horse past Sherborne House to show its soundness. Many people looked forward to the Horse Fair because they met friends from neighbouring villages who walked over, plus, the men who brought the horses travelled the country and they brought something of the wider outside into Bampton.

Photograph of the Horse Fair looking west down Bridge Street. Percy Hughes was the licensee and he also had the butcher's shop next to the Horse Shoe inn. There was a devastating fire at the inn in 1925 and the building was gutted and rebuilt in its present position. Note the window protection of hurdles to stop the horses putting their heads through the glass. White discs on the horses' rumps show they have been sold. There is a large group of horses tethered outside the high wall that faces Church View. Note the car outside the butchers shop.

Horses in Bridge Street outside the Horse Shoe

Scene of the horse fair in Bridge Street outside the Horse Shoe Inn and Percy Hughes' butchers shop. It must have been taken before 1925 because the Horse Shoe was gutted by fire that year. Hurdles placed over the ground floor windows were to stop the horses from sticking their heads through the windows. Horses with a white spot on their rumps have been sold.

Bridge Street shops, pubs and houses

Map Showing extent of Bampton in1989 (revised 1990)

3 Large ordnance Survey Maps used by Hadgood and Mammatt Auctioneers and Estate Agents from Witney. Published in 1921 price £5/- and £6/8d. Points of interest are Highmoor Brook, Plantation, Ham Court, Deanery Farm, Churchgate, Vicarage, Manor House, and Weald Manor House, old gravel pit and Beam Cottage, Calais Farm, Primrose Cottages, Fisher's Bridge

This Ordnance Survey Plan SP3003-3103. Dated 1971 shows area
Bridge St east to end of houses, north to new school, Colvile Close etc
Properties and Streets listed :
Air Training Corps
Ampney Lodge
Apple Tree Cottage
April Cottage
Army cadet Hut
Bakery
Bampton House
Bay Tree Cottage
Belgrave Cottage
Blackthorn Cottage
Blackthorn Cottagre
Bourton Cottage
Box House
Bushey House
Calais Farm
Cheapside
Chestnuts
Churchgate House
Churchgate House
Clevelly
Cobb House
Corner Cottage
Cornmill
Cotsway
Cotswold Lodge
Courtlands
Dairy Farm House
Deanery Farm
Down Home
Elephant and Castle
Eton Villas
Felix Cottage
Fernlea
Field Cottage
Fishers Bridge
Fleur de Lys
Folly House
Folly View
Fox Close
George and Dragon
Grayshot House
Ham Court
Haytor House
Highmoor Brook
Inglenook Cottage
Kilmore House
Kilmore House
Landells
Leighton Cottage
Lester House
Library
Lime Tree House
Little Pinkneys
Little Place Cottage
Littlemead
Lynton Mead
Mallows
Manor House
Matthew House
Melita
Moss Rose Cottage
Oathurst Estate
Plantation
Pococks Close
Police Office
Poplar Cottage
Primrose Cottages
Priory Cottage
Prospect Cottage
Prospect House
Prospect Place
Quebec Cottage
Rhandom
Roseann
Rosebrook
Rosemary House
San Toy
Sandford House
Southrop House
Southside
St Johns House
St Oswald
Sunnyside Cottage
Thatched Cottage
The Bungalow
The Deanery
The Eagle
The Elms
The Gate Cottage
The Glen
The Grange
The Grey House
The Haven
The Hermitage
The Horse Shoe
The Jubilee
The Malt Shovel
The Old Forge
The Vicarage
The Yews
Town Hall
Tudor Cottage
Turnings
Vaizey Cottage
Vicarage
Victoria Cottages
Vine Cottage
Weald Manor House
Wheelgate House
Windsmore
Windsor Cottagres
Yew Tree Cottage
Youth Club
Ampney Orchard
Aston Road
Bowling Green Close
Bridge Street
Broad Street
Buckland Road
Bushey Row
Chandler Close
Cheapside
Church Lane
Church Street
Church View
Colvile Close
Glebelands
High Street
High Street
Lavender Square
Manor View
Mercury Close
New Road
Queens Street
Rosemary Lane